Barclays Cuts Centene (NYSE:CNC) Price Target to $97.00

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its price objective lowered by Barclays from $98.00 to $97.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

CNC has been the topic of several other reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Centene from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird started coverage on Centene in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a neutral rating and a $83.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Centene from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Centene from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Centene to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $85.75.

Centene Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $70.83 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a 50-day moving average of $72.89 and a 200 day moving average of $73.81. Centene has a 12-month low of $63.45 and a 12-month high of $81.42. The stock has a market cap of $37.80 billion, a PE ratio of 14.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.48.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $39.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.83 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.79% and a return on equity of 14.45%. Centene’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.10 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Centene will post 6.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Centene

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Centene in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,325,441,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Centene in the first quarter worth approximately $914,080,000. Harris Associates L P grew its holdings in Centene by 172.8% during the 4th quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 10,863,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $806,170,000 after acquiring an additional 6,881,450 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Centene by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,652,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $678,033,000 after purchasing an additional 32,427 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Centene by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,491,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $364,117,000 after purchasing an additional 25,595 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Centene

Centene Corporation operates as a healthcare enterprise that provides programs and services to under-insured and uninsured families, commercial organizations, and military families in the United States. The company operates through Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial, and Other segments. The Medicaid segment offers health plan coverage, including medicaid expansion, aged, blind, disabled, children’s health insurance program, foster care, medicare-medicaid plans, long-term services and support.